It’s All In Your Head

My husband’s results came back today… POSITIVE for HLA-DQ8. His typing showed both of his parents have gluten-sensitivity. Now we know our kids have 2 sets of the genes, one from each of us.

What do you feel when someone says to you… “Maybe it’s all in your head.”?

Well if you’ve had any neuropathy issues from gluten sensitivity, or ataxia symptoms…

It might just be (literally) in your head.

You might be feeling like you’re losing your mind, or just really tired, dizzy or confused… maybe stressed?

Who knew that gluten sensitivity and celiac disease could be more than multiple trips to the bathroom?

Some people never have GI symptoms at all!

Sometimes it literally affects your brain instead. It can affect all systems of your body. Hormonal and endocrine, digestive, muscular, and neurological…

That’s not me you say?

Perhaps not…. and perhaps not YET.

Maybe it’s your spouse? Your aunt or sibling? Your parent, or child… If someone in your family has celiac, or signs of effects from gluten intolerance (thyroid issues, asthma/allergies, autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, chronic pain, cancer…) maybe you need to look at things a little closer. It’s a dominant gene that is passed on, and it can be highly likely you or someone you know – has it.

I was a “wait and see” type of girl myself. No hurry … I don’t need to change until I must change.

For me it was celiac, but what about for all of those people affected – with a failed celiac panel, and no “golden standard” test or gene test to prove what they need to know? Where is the golden standard test for losing your mind?

“One last thing on the gluten sensitivity study: Dr. Fasano and the other authors noted that even if a person doesn’t have celiac, they still can be damaged by gluten.

“In itself, the absence of autoantibodies [the autoimmune antibodies produced in celiac disease but not in gluten sensitivity] and intestinal lesions does not rule out the intrinsic toxicity of gluten, whose intake, even in non-CD individuals, has been associated with damage to other tissues, organs and systems besides the intestine,” the study concluded.

It’s great to hear a leading expert in celiac disease acknowledging what many of us have realized all along: that gluten sensitivity/intolerance potentially can wreck your health even if you’re not officially celiac.”